Sick Review (Psychological Horror Novella)

Sick: Everyone has a breaking point. Is this marriage based on unconditional love or an unhealthy obsession?

Susan Branch’s life revolves around the care of her charming and inscrutable husband John, a man born into wealth and prestige who lost his family’s fortune when his mysterious chronic illnesses left him bedridden. Together they live a decrepit existence beholden to the current owners of his family’s former estate.

After years of devoting herself to John’s care, Susan is worn out and frustrated. Yet she is determined to scrape together whatever resources she can to keep John comfortable and happy. This includes stealing Demerol from the doctor’s office where she works to feed John’s ever-increasing need for pain medication.

As John’s condition continues to puzzle doctors, Susan begins to notice strange objects appearing around her house. Ever wary of creepy Old Pete, the groundskeeper, Susan decides to confront the elderly man and put an end to his snooping for good.

John suffers a critical emergency, but he is saved and is soon released from the hospital. As his health begins to improve, Susan dreams of a normal life, but her hope for a miracle transforms into a nightmare one fateful afternoon when she discovers the true cause of John’s sickness. – Goodreads

–S&S–

Sick Review

I did not like this book. I really did not like this book (actually, novella). It disgusted me. Seriously disgusted to me to the point that I found my lip curling up as if I’d smelled something bad while I read it. Even the descriptions of the husband (just his eyes, lips, etc), set me on edge, making me think “What the… How can this woman find this guy attractive?” Everything I read was repulsive. Repugnant. So, yes, I did not like this book, butthat does not mean this was a bad book.

SICK has the honor of being the story that it’s taken me the longest to write a review about. I would try to write it, walk away, come back, try again, walk away… It took me a while to sort out my feelings on it. I even ended up going to one of my fellow bookworms and seeking her advice. The question that ended up giving me the most trouble was this: If a book is well-written, but you’re disgusted by it, but you get the feeling you’re meant to be… how do you rate it?

The psychological aspects of this book made my skin crawl. Especially the ending. I could not understand it because, I think, I did not want to understand it. I labeled the characters a certain way in my head, and that was that. Christa Wojciechowski makes you feel what the main character is feeling, though. You know why she thinks the way she does, even as you want to shout at her for being stupid and tell her you know something is wrong. Its like watching a wreck happen. You know its not going to end well, and yet you can’t look away. The husband … Lets just say I’ve never wanted to smack a man more in my entire life, and leave it at that.

SICK is a story that you can’t shrug off easily. It rubs your thoughts and feelings raw like you’ve attacked your brain with sandpaper. It’s damn good writing, and I applaud the author for her ability to throw me so far off-balance mentally that it took me 24 hours to figure out what in the world I thought of her story!

I really appreciate your open minded approach to this review. I read Sick and I was also disgusted and bewildered, but I absolutely loved it. I loved that I could understand the wife even if I disagreed with her choices. I think a good writer should strive to do that and Christa Wojo’s work is great.

Thanks so much for this review. I appreciate your candor and that you chose to rate the writing over the content. I know it’s not an “enjoyable” read, and believe it or not, I didn’t set out to disgust readers.

This story is based on a dream, and I was trying to recapture the sickening dread I felt when I was with “the husband” character. Then I researched online and was shocked to discover his “condition” really exists. It was so much more grotesque than I imagined, so I incorporated the details I picked up in my research.

The sequel is much more disturbing, so I’ll spare you the review copy of SICKER. This series is definitely not for everyone.

great review! i’ve never heard of this book, but i think i’ll stay away from it. not my cup of tea, but yikes! i totally get your dilemma of personally not liking a book for whatever reason, but recognizing its brilliance. i usually just give these books a neutral 3 out of 5 stars because i too factor in my personal enjoyment in my rating. but it seemed the author’s goal with sick to actually make your skin crawl, and it sounds like she accomplished her goal and deserved all the stars for that.

the #bhpchat was really fun this afternoon. thanks for stopping by my blog! 🙂

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